Synopsis: Demand for horseshoe crab blood for vaccine and drug testing, as well as fishermen using horseshoe crab as bait, have contributed to population declines. Conversationists fear this 450-million-year-old living fossil, will be pushed to the brink of extinction if we don't protect it. They are advocating for the approval and use of a synthetic version, that has already been approved in Europe and China. Arte Journal. October 2022.
Arte Journal – Long Island beaches on alert
Synopsis: Shark attacks are historically rare on Long Island. But this summer 2022, Long Island residents and visitors have been warned to be careful when visiting the beach, after six people have been injured in shark attacks over the course of a month -not fatally. Safety efforts include heightened patrols and surveillance of shark activity, including drone and helicopter monitoring along the Long Island state park beaches. Although shark attacks are always scary, the surge in shark sightings and activity in Long Island is actually good news, as it is a result of conservation efforts in the area, including legislation prohibiting the overfishing of bunker fish. Scientists also think waters getting warmer with climate change could attract more shark species in the future on the East Coast. Filming and editing: Edward Bally. 2022
The era of Megafires in California
Synopsis: With climate change, megafires are rising at an alarming rate in California. News story about Dixie and Caldor fires for BFMTV - Ligne Rouge. September 2021.
COVID-19: Las Vegas, the hardest-hit metro economy in America
Synopsis: Economic fallout from COVID-19 was "a punch in the gut" to thousands of workers on and off the famous Vegas Strip. News story for RTS. May 2020
California: gray whales in danger
Synopsis: Gray whales are starving, washing up dead in startling numbers along SF coast. Scientists believe the trouble started under the Arctic ice pack. The tiny crustaceans that the gray whales eat rely on algae that grows on the underside of the ice. When that algae dies, it sinks to the seafloor, where the mud-dwelling critters feast. The less ice there is, the less algae and, consequently, fewer crustaceans. Which means less whale food. News story for Arte Journal. July 2019.